The new Netflix miniseries “Inventing Anna” Based on the true story of imposter Anna Sorokin aka Anna Delvey. The series was fictionalized for the Netflix title. But what really happened? And what does Anna Delvey/Anna Sorokin today?
“Inventing Anna”: Anna Sorokin today
The real Anna Delvey/Anna Sorokin from Inventing Anna, just like in the Netflix miniseries, is a convicted con man. For a long time she pretended to be a rich heiress. She cheated not only banks but also friends for a long time and had to go to prison for it. She was arrested in 2017 and was in a rehab in Los Angeles at the time. In 2019, the New York court sentenced her to four years in prison. There she wrote a blog about her prison life. “Anna Delveys Diaries” can no longer be found online. In early 2021, she was fired for good behavior. But Anna Delvey/Anna Sorokin is back in jail today for overstaying her visa.
The 31-year-old has appealed against her deportation to Germany. She is currently awaiting a decision. Anna is active on Instagram as Anna Delvey2.0.
But how did Anna Delvey/Anna Sorokin get there?
The true story of Anna
Anna was born into a middle-class family near Moscow in 1991 as Anna Sorokin. When she was 16, the family moved to Germany, where she went to school in Eschweiler. She later moved to Paris and worked as an intern for the fashion, arts and culture magazine Purple, before moving to the New York office. From 2013 she used the pseudonym Anna Delvey and invented a new life story: as a German heiress to millions, she allegedly came to the Big Apple to open an exclusive art club.
The young woman wore luxurious designer clothes, rented expensive hotels and ate in exquisite restaurants; she went on luxury trips and lived a jet-set life. How could she finance that? By sheer cheating. For example, she never paid hotel bills, forged bank documents, and opened more than 20 bank accounts in the US, thereby practicing check-riding. She also went out to eat with wealthy people and asked friends to pay her bill if, for example, her credit card “didn’t work”.
This is how Anna’s dizziness was exposed
A restaurant called the police after Anna Delvey/Anna Sorokin couldn’t pay for their lunches. In court, a photo of the swindler was taken by accident and ended up in the newspaper. Her friend Rachel DeLoache Williams, who owed more than $60,000 because of Anna, recognized her. In the months that followed, she helped prosecutors expose Anna’s fraud.
“Inventing Anna”: This is the series
Inventing Anna follows an ambitious journalist, Vivien Kent (Anna Chlumsky), who investigates the case of Anna Delvey/Sorokin (Julia Garner). She is in prison on suspicion of fraud. But is she really New York’s biggest swindler?
“Anna and the reporter begin a black humorous love-hate relationship while Anna awaits trial and the journalist races against the clock to answer the question: who is Anna Delvey?”
Shonda Rhimes, producer of shows like Bridgerton and Grey’s Anatomy, created the Netflix miniseries. Inspired by Jessica Pressler’s How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People article published in New York Magazine.
More exciting Netflix titles
Not only “Inventing Anna” tells the story of a true imposter. The Netflix documentary “The Tinder Swindler” also shows a real scammer. That’s what Simon Leviev is doing today. These three Netflix mini-series are also worth watching.
Source: Netflix, Instagram/@thean Nadelvey, own research